


Twelve Love Boxes

by cherylwoo



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-10-04
Packaged: 2017-12-28 09:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/990458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherylwoo/pseuds/cherylwoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur gives Yao 12 love gifts. One for everyday leading up to Christmas. England/China.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 14 December

**Author's Note:**

> Don't mind me - just transferring my fics from Fanfiction.net to Archive of Our Own.
> 
> My Christmas fic! One short chapter for the days leading up to Christmas. I think the hardest part of writing this fic was coming up with the situations that lead to Arthur giving Yao his Christmas present. I hope I don’t disappoint! Okay, I know that this is set in modern times since a lot of the stuff that happens in this fic obviously occur during modern times (such as the technology and the media in this fic), and Hong Kong and Iceland would be grown up now. But I thought it’d be cuter if Hong Kong was younger (even if he doesn’t play a very big part in this fic). Or just maybe assume that there were such things during the time when Hong Kong would be very young? I don’t know, I’ll leave it to you to decide what you want to do. Alternatively, just take it as creative license and please indulge me ;)

**_Day 1 – 14 December_ **

When Yao opened his eyes that morning, it was to Arthur beaming down at him.

“What are you doing up so early?” grumbled Yao. It was rare that Arthur woke up earlier than Yao did. In fact, Yao was usually the first one up, and would have breakfast prepared by the time Arthur was up and fully functional. “Is Hong Kong up already, aru?”

“No, don’t worry about him.”

Yao sat up sleepily and looked at Arthur questioningly. “Are you going to tell me what you’re up to?”

“Well,” Arthur looked sheepish, and scratched the back of his head. “I didn’t mean to disturb you,” he admitted. “But I have an early meeting to get to, and I just wanted to give this to you.” Arthur held out a big, brown envelope. He pushed it towards Yao’s face.

“What is it, aru?” Yao asked, taking the envelope from Arthur. He moved to unseal the envelope, but Arthur immediately stopped him.

“Don’t open it yet!” cried Arthur. His face was very red.  “It explains what I have been doing at the dinner table for the past week.”

“I can’t open it yet?” Yao raised an eyebrow.

“No! I’d be too embarrassed!”

“What do you have to be embarrassed about, aru?”

“You’ll see when you open it!” explained Arthur hastily. “When I’m gone!”

Yao sighed. “Okay, okay…” He then swung his legs over the bed and stood up. “I’ll see you this evening then?”

“Of course,” Arthur grinned.

“Okay, be safe, aru,” said Yao and kissed Arthur’s lips.

“Mm…” Then, Arthur turned around and exited the bedroom.

Yao’s attention shifted to the envelope Arthur had just given him a moment ago. It laid innocently on the bed where Yao had left it. What could be inside that Arthur would be so embarrassed about?

Yao heard the front door close and lock, thus indicating that Arthur was out of the house.

So it should be okay to open the envelope.

Yao’s fingers deftly unsealed the envelope by pulling the seal adhesive from the back flap of the envelope. He peeked inside the envelope. There was a big piece of paper that was small enough to just fit into the envelope. Yao pulled the paper out.

Then, it was obvious as to what Arthur would be so embarrassed about.

On the paper was a picture Arthur had drawn of Yao and Hong Kong. Yao was feeding Hong Kong his dinner and they were in the dining room. It looked like Arthur had drawn it from his point of view, for he was not in the picture. Arthur was not the best artist, but Yao could tell that he really did his best with the drawing. The picture was captioned, “Something I love about Yao.” What that meant, though, Yao was unsure. Did Arthur love Yao because he took care of Hong Kong? Or did Arthur love Yao because he was a loving father? Yao decided that it didn’t matter. After all, what mattered was that Arthur loved him.

Yao felt his cheeks grow warm. It was very sweet of Arthur to do something like that. But still, it was quite unexpected that Arthur would take the time and effort to draw a picture of his family.

Yao’s fingers ghosted over the pencil lines on the paper. He smiled to himself.

Yao placed the picture on the bedside table. He mentally made a note to hang it up in the room later.

Now, it was time to prepare breakfast and get ready for the day.


	2. 15 December

**_Day 2 – 15 December_ **

Yao had been finishing up with washing the dishes after dinner when Arthur approached him. Arthur was hiding a box behind his back.

Arthur rested his chin on Yao’s shoulder and took in a deep breath. “You smell good,” he commented.

“That’s… good to know, aru,” replied Yao as he dried his hands on a towel. “What’s Hong Kong doing?”

Arthur shrugged. “Watching cartoons,” he told Yao. “He likes ‘Hello Kitty and Friends’ now, thanks to you.”

Yao harrumphed. “That’s a respectable cartoon!” he retorted. “It teaches him about being friends with others, and it’s also very cute, aru!”

“I didn’t say it was bad,” replied Arthur. He then took Yao’s hand and led him out of the kitchen and out of the house into their garden. They had a swing outside, so they sat down together on the swing. “So… what did you think of the picture I drew?” Arthur asked nervously once both of them were comfortable.

Yao covered his mouth with his hand. “It’s nice,” he replied.

Arthur looked at Yao incredulously. “You don’t think it’s funny?”

“Well,” Yao began. “Your artistic skills still need some improvement, but I could tell you put a lot of effort into the picture, aru. So… I thought it was very sweet of you.” Yao took Arthur’s hand and kissed it softly.

“That’s why you hung it up in our room,” deadpanned Arthur.

“It’s a pretty nice picture,” Yao told Arthur.

“I… I’m glad you liked it,” said Arthur. He then paused to reach to the side of his seat, retrieving the box he had been trying to hide from Yao.

Yao peered curiously at the box Arthur was holding.

“This… this is for you,” Arthur told Yao and gave him the box.

“What is it, aru?”

“Why don’t you open it and find out?” Arthur smiled pleasantly at Yao and placed the box on his lap.

Yao lifted the lid of the box. He found an assortment of chocolates in the box. “Oh my,” Yao muttered. It was a known fact that Yao had a sweet tooth, so he was most pleased with Arthur’s present of chocolates to him.

“I tried to find you the Lindt chocolates that you like, but the flavour that you are so fond of is sold out everywhere,” Arthur babbled. “So I settled for your next favourite – Godiva.”

Yao grinned and kissed Arthur on the lips. “It’s not that I’m not grateful for these gifts you are giving me… but why are you giving me so many gifts, aru? I mean, first it was the drawing, now it’s the chocolates…”

Arthur grinned. He turned his body so that he and Yao were face to face. “I wanted to give you a different sort of Christmas gift this year. So, I’m giving you twelve gifts everyday until Christmas day.”

Yao gaped at Arthur in silence. When he had finally found his voice, he managed, “But… but I only have one gift prepared for you this year…” Yao thought of the Christmas present he had prepared for Arthur that year, safely hidden in the storeroom. He hoped that would make up for what Arthur was doing…

Arthur waved a hand nonchalantly. “Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive’? Besides, I’m just happy seeing you pleased over the presents you receive from me.”

Yao reached forward and gazed deeply into Arthur’s eyes. He stroked Arthur’s cheek gently. What had Yao done in this life to be blessed with such a sweet and caring partner? “At least, let’s share these chocolates, okay, aru?”

Arthur nodded happily. He then extended his hand into the box and took a piece of round-shaped chocolate. He held it to Yao’s face. “I know you like this one,” he said. “So open up!”

Yao turned pink. He thanked god that it was dark and Arthur couldn’t see his cheeks colouring. Yao opened his mouth, and Arthur placed the chocolate into his mouth.

As Yao sunk his teeth into the piece of chocolate, the sweetness and flavour burst in his mouth and attacked his senses. Yao let out an involuntary moan at the delightful sensation.

“Enjoying it?” asked Arthur smugly.

Yao had no words to articulate. He merely nodded.


	3. 16 December

**_Day 3 – 16 December_ **

Arthur reached home early that day. Well, he was earlier than usual. As soon as he reached home, he carted Hong Kong off to Matthew’s place.

“Why is Hong Kong going to Matthew’s place? He hasn’t even had his dinner, aru!”

“Relax, love,” Arthur told Yao. “Matthew is going to babysit Hong Kong tonight. And he’ll feed him.”

Yao frowned. “Babysit? Why?”

Arthur kissed Yao’s forehead. When Arthur leaned forward, Hong Kong was wedged in between his two fathers. The toddler made a sound in discomfort. “We are going for a movie tonight – just you and me,” Arthur told Yao quietly.

“What?”

Arthur dug into his pocket and brought out two pieces of paper. “I have the tickets!” he said happily.

Yao sighed. There was no deterring Arthur once he had his mind made up. Besides, he had even bought the tickets, and Yao didn’t want to see the tickets go to waste. “What movie are we watching, aru?”

Arthur beamed. He adjusted Hong Kong in his arms. “It’s an old movie,” he told Yao. “It’s called ‘A Walk to Remember’.”

“Oh,” mused Yao. “I think I’ve heard about that show.”

Arthur nodded excitedly. “It was very popular when it came out a few years ago. The author of the book it is based on has written a lot of romance novels as well,” he said. “The cinema is playing some of the older romantic shows for this season, so I thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to take you to see one!”

“Okay, okay…” Yao leaned forward and kissed Arthur on the nose. “Take Hong Kong to Matthew’s and be home soon, aru. Meanwhile, I’ll go get ready.”

“Awesome!” Arthur punched his fist in the air.

Annoyed to be neglected by his father, Hong Kong poked his finger into Arthur’s nostril. Hong Kong liked to be in the centre of his parents’ attention, and could get very grumpy if he wasn’t.

As Arthur left with Hong Kong, Yao could hear Arthur scolding his son lightly, saying that there was no treasure in his nose. Or something like that.

Yao smiled affectionately at the two males in his life. It was rather entertaining to watch Arthur’s interaction with Hong Kong – Hong Kong would try to annoy the heck out of Arthur, but Arthur would try his best to remain patient and amuse the boy. Sometimes, Arthur wasn’t successful in being tolerant, and Yao had to come in and soothe the two of them.

Yao changed into a nicer pair of clothes, and by the time Arthur got home, they were both ready to go out.

Arthur and Yao had a quick dinner together out. They reached the cinema in time for the movie, and watched the movie together.

After the movie, as they were exiting, Arthur noticed Yao rubbing his eyes. “Love,” Arthur said as he took Yao’s chin in his hand and directed his face to him. “Are you crying?”

Yao scrubbed at his eyes, feeling very embarrassed that his partner had caught him. “What if I am?”

“No, it’s not that…” Arthur took out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Yao. “I didn’t think that it was that depressing a movie,” he said simply.

“She died in the end, aru!”

“Well, yes,” Arthur said awkwardly. Then, he took Yao’s hand and led him to the car. “But being in love with her made him a better man in the end. It ended well… Well, depending on how you look at it…”

Yao wriggled his hand out of Arthur’s grasp. He wrapped both his arms around Arthur’s hand and clung onto it as if his life depended on it. “If you suddenly died, I don’t know what I’d do…” he mumbled.

“Yao, we are practically immortal,” Arthur reasoned. “We don’t die.”

“I know that, aru!” Yao replied. “I’m just saying… I felt for Landon, because if I were in his shoes, I don’t know what I’d do.”

Arthur turned his face and kissed Yao’s cheek. “To be honest, I cannot imagine my life without you either,” he murmured.

By then, they had reached the car. Yao dislodged himself from Arthur’s arm and planted a kiss on Arthur’s mouth. Then, he got into the passenger seat.

Arthur got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Think Hong Kong will be asleep by now?”

Yao looked at his watch. “Depends. But I think he should be, aru.”


	4. 17 December

**_Day 4 – 17 December_ **

There was laughter coming from the living room. Yao could distinctly make out Hong Kong’s high-pitched laughter after Arthur’s voice said something incomprehensible.

It made Yao wonder what it was that Arthur and Hong Kong were doing. Not that it wasn’t a good thing that the father and son pair were bonding. But Yao couldn’t help but be curious as to what they were up to. There was an excessive amount of laughter going on, and it was quite unsettling for Hong Kong to be so gleeful, even on days when he was in a good mood.

Yao was currently in his bedroom, reading over some documents his boss had sent him so that he could approve them, and send them back to his boss to get his official signature on them. He opted to work from home for now, because he had to take care of Hong Kong. It was good that his boss was supportive of it, but considering Hong Kong was a part of China, Yao figured that it was due to political reasons that his boss agreed to it. Reading documents was rather boring; Yao let out a huge yawn and stretched.

Yao wearily plopped down onto the master bed. Maybe he could just close his eyes and give them a short rest. They were tired from reading document after document after document… and if Yao read another document without resting, he swore he would go crazy.

Yao wasn’t aware that he had fallen asleep, until he felt an incessant pulling on his hair.

“Stop that…” Yao mumbled as he swatted the hands tugging on his hair away. He still had his eyes closed. However, the hands continued pulling his hair with renewed fervour.

Yao’s eyes shot open in annoyance, and was met with Hong Kong’s joyful face. “Oh, Hong… it’s you, aru,” muttered Yao as he sat up and gathered the toddler into his arms. “Where’s Daddy?”

Hong Kong looked up at Yao with wide eyes and pointed towards the bathroom. Then, wordlessly, he handed Yao a piece of paper. Well, he more or less thrust the piece of paper into Yao’s face.

“What’s this?” Yao enquired. He took the piece of paper and held it at a distance so that he could get a better look at it.

Yao’s heart melted as soon as he saw what was on the paper. Arthur and Hong Kong had worked together and made him a picture of their family. It was obvious as to whom the drawing belonged to – Hong Kong, because of the drawing style. But the colouring in was done by Arthur, as it seemed more refined and he also gave the figures their facial features to distinguish them from each other. At the bottom of the picture was a sticker of a small Santa Claus, and beside it was, “Merry Christmas, Yao!!”

Yao felt himself tear up. So this was one of Arthur’s Christmas gifts to him. It was touching, as Arthur always claimed he was rubbish at art, and yet here he was colouring in a drawing Hong Kong drew for Yao. Right after he drew a picture for Yao. Also, the father-son collaboration was rather cute, in essence.

Still holding the paper, Yao crushed Hong Kong into an embrace. “Thank you, Hong!” he said happily.

Hong Kong grinned into the hug. He was happy to see his father so ecstatic. Even if he didn’t understand why.

Arthur chose that moment to come out of the bathroom.  He was wiping his hands on a green hand towel. “Oh, hello Yao, you’re awake?”

Yao turned his watery gaze towards Arthur and nodded.

“I see Hong Kong has given you your present,” Arthur observed, hanging the hand towel out to dry.

“Yes, aru,” Yao replied in a choked voice. “Thank you.”

“That’s what we were doing all afternoon,” explained Arthur brightly as he took a seat next to Yao on the edge of the bed. “Hong Kong was very excited when I told him to draw a picture for you.”

Yao chuckled and wiped a tear that had escaped his eye away. “Well, this picture is going next to the drawing you gave me on the wall, aru.”


	5. 18 December

**_Day 5 – 18 December_ **

When Yao got home that day, it was to the smell of something burning.

Alarmed, Yao rushed into the kitchen, the first source of burnt things in his house. To his dismay, the kitchen was a mess. There was flour and chocolate everywhere. Smoke was coming out of the oven, but thankfully, it was switched off. It looked like Arthur had been trying to bake something. “Oh my god, Arthur!!” Yao wailed.

On the kitchen counter was a hastily scribbled note. “Sorry, Yao,” it said. “I’ll clean this mess up. I just went out to get something. Hong Kong is with me. –Arthur.”

Needless to say, Yao couldn’t stand to see his house in such a state. He couldn’t wait for Arthur to get home. He immediately got to cleaning the clutter up. What Yao had thought was going to be a quiet and relaxing afternoon spent reading was now an afternoon spent cleaning his kitchen.

When Arthur got home with Hong Kong, Yao was just finished touching up the kitchen. “Yao!” called Arthur. “I said I’d do it!”

Yao straightened himself up and wiped the beads of sweat running down his brow. “I couldn’t wait for you to get home,” he replied. “I’m OCD like that, aru,” he grinned sheepishly.

Arthur placed Hong Kong on the ground and told him to go and play with his blocks. Hong Kong eagerly headed to the living room.

“You should have just left it to me,” murmured Arthur. He approached Yao and wrapped his arms around the Asian man. “Now it makes my present meaningless because you had to work for my mistake,” he said glumly.

Yao giggled. He stroked Arthur’s cheek with his hand. “What was your mistake?”

Arthur sighed. “I thought I would be able to bake you some cookies as my Christmas gift to you, but as you can see, I utterly failed,” he explained. “So I hurried to the bakery to get you the ones you like before they were sold out for the day. I swear, I would have cleaned before I left, but…”

Yao touched his nose to Arthur’s. “You wanted to bake cookies for me, aru?” he interrupted Arthur.

“Yes…” Arthur replied. “I thought it would mean more if I made it.”

“Arthur,” Yao began dryly. “You are a horrible cook, aru. What made you think you could bake any better?”

“I wouldn’t know until I tried, would I?!” Arthur retorted.

Yao gave Arthur’s cheek another gentle stroke. “Well, now you know,” he smirked. “But it was awfully sweet of you to think that you could bake cookies for me. That’s something I love about you, you know?”

“Hm?” Arthur looked at Yao questioningly.

“I love it when you go all out to please the people you care about,” said Yao fondly to Arthur. “Especially me, aru.”

“So… I am forgiven for messing up the kitchen?” Arthur asked hopefully. He took Yao’s hand and kissed it tenderly.

Yao rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Yes,” he replied.

“Yay!” Arthur hugged Yao. Then, he removed his backpack from his back. Arthur opened it and brought out the bag of cookies he had just purchased. “Merry Christmas, Yao,” he said as he placed the cookies into Yao’s hand.

Yao gave the bag a tentative sniff. The smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through his nostrils, and he sighed delightedly. “Let’s share this for dessert after dinner, okay?”

Arthur nodded, seemingly pleased with himself for making Yao smile like that.


	6. 19 December

  ** _Day 6 – 19 December_**

Yao was having tea with Hong Kong. Well, Hong Kong was fervently licking an orange-flavoured popsicle, while Yao was drinking tea as he watched Hong Kong. It was a lazy day, as his boss had nothing for him to do after he had finished reading the documents yesterday.

Arthur, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. Earlier on, he said that he had to collect something from the bookshop. Something he had ordered or pre-ordered, Yao presumed. He didn’t like to pry into Arthur’s personal business, so Yao left it at that.

Some popsicle juice was dribbling down Hong Kong’s chin. Yao ignored it. It was about time for Hong Kong’s bath anyway. So, once he was done, Yao would give him his bath.

When Hong Kong stuffed the last morsel of the popsicle in his mouth, letting it melt in there, Yao picked him up and carried him to the bathroom. “Bathtime, Hong Kong,” Yao said softly.

Hong Kong giggled and clapped his hands. He liked taking baths. He could splash around in the water playing with his rubber duckie.

Needless to say, when Arthur got home, Hong Kong had just finished taking a bath and was happily laughing on his bed. He was fully dressed. Conversely, Yao was damp from Hong Kong flopping about in the bathroom. He gave Arthur a weary look. Even though Yao loved Hong Kong very much, sometimes he could be a handful.

Arthur chuckled. He plucked Hong Kong’s panda plushie that was lying on the ground and handed it to the toddler. Then, Arthur lifted Hong Kong from the bed and put him on the floor. “Run along now,” he told Hong Kong gently. “Daddy has some private matters to discuss with Daddy Yao.”

Hong Kong nodded and padded down the stairs. As he left, Arthur and Yao could hear the pitter-patter of his footsteps making their way downstairs.

“Private matters, aru?” Both of Yao’s eyebrows shot up and he looked questioningly at Arthur. He opened their wardrobe and retrieved a clean, dry shirt to change into.

Arthur laughed quietly. He watched as Yao took off the wet shirt he was wearing and replaced it with the dry one.

“I picked this up for you,” Arthur said, pulling out a box from the plastic bag he was holding and handing it to Yao.

“Oh, another of your Christmas gifts?” Yao asked. Secretly, he was excited to find out what Arthur would give him everyday until Christmas. But of course, he wouldn’t let Arthur know that.

Arthur nodded. “Open it,” he encouraged.

Yao took the box from Arthur’s hands. He sat down on the edge of the bed and lifted the lid of the box. Inside, there was a book entitled, ‘When We Were Orphans’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Arthur plopped himself down next to Yao. “It’s a detective story,” he explained. “I know how much you like detective stories… and this book takes place in China, so I thought you’d identify with it.”

Yao’s eyes scanned through the summary at the back of the book. It was about a boy who grows up to become a detective in order to solve the mystery of his parents’ disappearance. “Thanks,” Yao smiled brightly up at Arthur. “Thank you very much.”

Arthur smiled and kissed Yao’s temple. “I hope you enjoy reading the book,” he said.

“I’m sure I will, aru.”


	7. 20 December

**_Day 7 – 20 December_ **

Yao had just tidied up the mess Hong Kong had made in the living room. He lumbered back to his bedroom, ready to go to sleep himself.

Arthur was up in bed. It looked like he was waiting for Yao. He had a box on his lap. Arthur was looking at Yao mischievously.

Yao slipped into bed beside Arthur. Nowadays, whenever Arthur was acting sneaky and suspicious, Yao expected that he had a Christmas present for him. “Is that for me, aru?”

Arthur nodded. “Open it,” he told Yao.

Yao shifted the box to his lap, and lifted the lid. He peered curiously into the box. There were some photos in the box. Yao took one of them out and looked at it. It was a picture of Arthur and him kissing under a mistletoe one Christmas. He remembered that incident very clearly – Arthur had just told him about the Western tradition of kissing under a mistletoe and they had decided to try it out.

Yao immediately turned towards Arthur. His face was red. “Who took this?!” he demanded.

Arthur smirked. “Antonio did, at that Christmas party in America five years ago,” he replied.

“I wasn’t aware that anyone was paying any attention to us, aru,” Yao mumbled. He picked up the stack of photos from the box and flipped through them. They were various pictures of Arthur and Yao during their time together in the past years. “How did you get these pictures?”

“My friends,” Arthur shrugged.

Yao exhaled in wonderment. “I’m impressed,” he commented. “That’s A LOT of candid photos of us.”

“I know, right?” Arthur laughed heartily.

Yao showed a picture of Arthur placing a wreath of flowers on his head to Arthur. “I like this one, aru,” he said. “Maybe I should frame this one up.”

Arthur looked at Yao lovingly. “You do whatever you want with the photos – they are yours now.”

Yao nodded and kissed Arthur’s cheek. “You are the sweetest companion anyone could ask for,” he told Arthur.

Arthur blushed brightly.


	8. 21 December

**_Day 8 – 21 December_ **

Yao had just finished work in the garden. He entered the house, tripping over a small box, which was strategically placed on the ground so that he would definitely not miss it when he entered.

Yao bent forward to pick the box up. Was this another of Arthur’s Christmas gifts to him? But he didn’t want to open it unless he had Arthur’s permission. What if the box contained something Arthur didn’t want Yao to see?

To be safe, Yao placed the box on the dining table and left it there. He was not going to open it until Arthur said it was okay to do so.

Then, Yao continued his work in the house, cleaning the kitchen and living room, folding the clothes… He could focus on the housework that day because Lukas had offered to have Hong Kong over at his place for a few days to play with Emil. Apparently, both toddlers enjoyed each other’s presence, so Yao had agreed. Besides, Lukas knew how to take care of toddlers – Yao had seen him at it before. And Lukas was appropriately firm, so Yao knew not to be worried with Hong Kong under his care.

Before Yao knew it, the sun had set and Arthur was home.

“My darling Yao!!” chirped Arthur happily as he entered the house. Yao had just straightened up the carpet in the living room. “Did you get my gift?”

“You mean, the box?”

“Yes!” Arthur flung his backpack on the sofa.

“I didn’t open it yet,” replied Yao. “I didn’t want to open it until you said I could, aru.”

Arthur let out an exasperated sigh. “Of course you can open it!” he exclaimed. “You are in charge of this house as well, you know!”

“Well…” Yao began.

“Enough!” Arthur held up a hand. Then he took Yao’s shoulders in his hand and manoeuvred the Asian man to the kitchen. “Where’s the box?”

“There.” Yao pointed at the dining table on which the box innocently lay.

Arthur made his way to the box and pushed it towards Yao. “Open it,” Arthur told Yao.

Yao sighed, but was smiling. The Englishman was encouraging him to open a lot of gifts for the past few days. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it. It was just that Yao didn’t like to be in the centre of attention.

Nevertheless, Yao tore open the wrapper of the box and opened the box. In it was a jar of candy. On the jar was a label that said, “Sweets for my sweet.”

“Sweets for my sweet, aru?” Yao looked at Arthur in disbelief. “That’s so tacky!”

“But it’s cute, no?” Arthur beamed back at Yao.

Yao opened his mouth to shoot back a comeback to Arthur. But none came. “Yes,” he finally said grudgingly. “It is kinda cute.”

“You like it?”

“Arthur,” drawled Yao. “You know I love candy, aru.”

“Good,” said Arthur. “I’m glad.”

Yao twisted the lid of the jar and opened it. He took out a green-coloured piece of candy. “Why don’t you have the first one?” He held out the candy to Arthur’s face.

Arthur tilted his head. “Okay,” he replied, reaching into the jar for a piece of candy.

“I mean, this is for you, aru!”

Arthur chortled as he ate his candy. “You can have that!”


	9. 22 December

**_Day 9 – 22 December_ **

Yao groaned and rolled over in bed. He didn’t feel so good. For one, he could feel the onset of a huge migraine. What had he been doing the previous night? Yao couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary that would cause the headache.

Arthur shifted and opened his eyes. He had heard Yao’s miserable groan. He reached out a hand to tap Yao lightly on the shoulder. “What’s wrong, love?”

Yao still had his eyes closed. “It’s nothing, aru. It’s… just a headache,” he grunted.

Arthur’s eyes widened and he looked at Yao in concern. He knew Yao got these migraines quite regularly, even if Yao didn’t want to admit it. It would appear at random times, and go away after Yao had had some rest. Arthur presumed it was due to Yao’s old age, but of course, he didn’t want to tell Yao that. “Why don’t you rest here, and I’ll get breakfast ready for you?” asked Arthur. “Then after breakfast, you can take a nap.”

“You… you don’t have to…” Yao managed.

“Nonsense!” Arthur sat up and waved his hand. “I’ll get breakfast ready for you,” he repeated. “You just rest.”

As Arthur left to get breakfast for him, Yao pulled the blanket up to his chin. He snuggled into the blanket, making himself comfortable despite the worsening headache.

Moments later, Arthur returned with a tray of Yao’s breakfast. He had made oats with pieces of fruit for Yao. It wasn’t Yao’s favourite, but it was the only thing Arthur could make besides soup without burning the kitchen down. Yao sat up so that Arthur could place the tray on his lap and so that he could eat his breakfast. There was a CD next to the bowl on the tray, and Yao held it up, examining it.

“Oh, that’s today’s Christmas present,” Arthur told Yao. “But you can listen to it when you’re feeling better.”

Yao nodded and placed the CD on his bedside table.

“I will be out for the rest of the day, but I’ll be back this evening, is that okay?”

Yao fared a smile. “Sure,” he replied.

Arthur leaned forward and kissed Yao on the forehead. “I love you.”

Yao encircled his arms around Arthur’s torso. “I love you too, aru.”

When Arthur had changed out of his pyjamas and left, Yao dug into his breakfast. Moments later, he was done. Yao put the tray with the bowl on the ground – he would wash it later when his headache had gone away. Then, he lied down and adjusted himself on the bed. Soon, he was out like a light.

Yao woke up later in the day. It was already mid-day. But his head felt a lot better. It was still throbbing, but it was milder.

Yao remembered the dirty bowl he had left on the ground. He got out of bed, about to pick the tray up to wash the bowl on it, when he caught sight of the CD Arthur had gave him that morning on the bedside table.

Yao figured he should listen to it first. So he reached out for the CD and slipped it into the CD player on the same bedside table.

A song began playing. After the instrumental intro, what was unmistakably Arthur’s voice came on. He was singing.

 _Four letter word_  
But I don't have the guts to say it  
Smile 'til it hurts  
Let's not make it complicated  
We've got a story  
But I'm about to change the ending  
You're perfect for me  
And more than just a friend  
So we can just stop pretending now  
Gotta let you know somehow

 _I'll be your shelter_  
I'll be your storm  
I'll make you shiver  
I'll keep you warm  
Whatever weather  
Baby I'm yours  
Be your forever, be your fling  
Baby I will be your everything

 _Baby I_  
Baby I will  
Baby I will be your everything

 _We used to say_  
That we would always stick together  
But who's to say  
That we could never last forever  
Love, got a question  
Could you see yourself with somebody else?  
'Cause I'm on a mission  
And I don't wanna share  
I want you all to myself right now  
And I just wanna scream it out

 _I'll be your shelter_  
I'll be your storm  
I'll make you shiver  
I'll keep you warm  
Whatever weather  
Baby I'm yours  
Be your forever, be your fling  
Baby I will be your everything

 _Baby I_  
Baby I will  
Baby I will be your everything

 _No matter what you do_  
I'll be there for you  
And every time you close your eyes  
I will be by your side  
'Cause every time you make me sing  
Baby I will be your everything

 _I'll be your shelter_  
I'll be your storm  
I'll make you shiver  
I'll keep you warm  
Whatever weather  
Baby I'm yours  
Be your forever, be your fling  
Baby I will be your everything

 _Baby I_  
Baby I will  
Baby I will be your everything  
Baby I will be your everything  
Baby I will be your everything

Yao’s shoulders slumped. Once again, Arthur outdid himself. Yao could feel himself tearing up – because Arthur actually sung and recorded a song for him, as well as because of the lyrics to the song. It even had a pretty nice tune.

Yao only hoped that his one Christmas gift could make up for the effort Arthur put into making this Christmas a memorable one for him.


	10. 23 December

**_Day 10 – 23 December_ **

Arthur had tackled Yao to the couch and was tickling him mercilessly. Yao was on his back, doubled over in laughter and struggling to buck Arthur off him as Arthur assaulted the sensitive parts of his body. They had been together for quite a while now, and Arthur knew all his ticklish spots.

Arthur finally stopped when he was satisfied from prying those delightful sounds out of Yao.

Yao lay on the couch, staring up at Arthur. His clothes were in disarray, his hair was mussed, and he was panting in exertion. But a soft laughter of mirth still escaped his lips.

“Hey,” Arthur began.

“Hm?” Yao’s eyes drooped.

“Wear something nice to dinner tonight?”

“Why, aru?”

Arthur leaned forward so that his mouth was near Yao’s ear. “I made reservations for us to have dinner on a ship. I rented out the whole ship,” he said. “We have the whole ship to ourselves tonight, so we can do whatever we want. Have dinner, dance, make out in highly inappropriate places…”

Yao groaned. That must have cost Arthur a bomb. He didn’t like to see Arthur spend extravagant amounts of money on him. “Didn’t I already tell you not to spend so much money on me?”

Arthur rested his chin on Yao’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about the money. I managed to pull some strings for our dinner tonight,” he told Yao. “Since we don’t do this very often anyway, this is your Christmas present for today.”

Yao could feel his cheeks growing warm as Arthur’s voice vibrated on his shoulder. Wordlessly, he nodded his assent.

That night found Arthur and Yao alone on a cruise ship. They had time before dinner would be served, so they decided to walk on the deck of the ship to watch the sunset.

As the sun set before their very eyes, Arthur wrapped his arms around Yao’s tiny waist. They stood there in silence until the sun had fully gone down. Then, Yao turned around and the couple shared a kiss before heading into the ship for dinner.

Dinner was a simple and quiet affair. Arthur chose a Chinese-style dinner, because it was Yao’s favourite food. However, since there were only two of them eating, Arthur could not request for too many dishes. So, Arthur ordered in advance three extravagant dishes, much to Yao’s discomfort (“I told you not too spend so much money, aru!”).

Arthur did not waste any time pouncing onto Yao once they had finished their dessert. They both landed on the ground; Yao made a soft “oof” as his back came into contact with the ground.

“Hong Kong will be back tomorrow. This is the last night we don’t have to worry about him. What say you we do it here?” murmured Arthur seductively and sultrily into Yao’s ear.

Immediately, Yao flushed. “Here?! But what about the waiters, aru?” he sputtered.

“They would have left after our food was served.” Arthur began planting feather-light kisses on Yao’s neck.

“But… but… I don’t like doing it on the floor,” said Yao in a small voice. He turned his head to the side, looking away from Arthur. “It’s hard and uncomfortable…”

“Not a problem!” said Arthur brightly. “This is a cruise ship! I’m sure there are plenty of rooms here that we can choose to use!”

“Wha-?” Yao didn’t have time to protest, for Arthur picked him up, bridal-style, and carted him off.


	11. 24 December

**_Day 11 – 24 December_ **

“I hope he wasn’t too much of a bother, aru,” said Yao to Lukas when the latter sent Hong Kong home that day. He slung the small bag that contained Hong Kong’s clothes and other necessities over his shoulder.

Lukas managed a smile. It was rare that the Norwegian man smiled, and so he had a bit of a difficulty smiling. “He’s an angel,” he told Yao. “Emil is also much better behaved when Hong Kong is around,” he said. Then he lowered his voice. “I think it’s to show Hong Kong that Emil, too, can obey orders.”

Yao laughed. “How cheeky,” he commented.

“That’s my brother for you,” Lukas shrugged. “Well, have a merry Christmas, Yao. I’ll see you soon.”

Yao nodded and waved at Lukas with his free hand. “You too!”

Yao watched as Lukas got into his car and drove away. Then, he turned to Hong Kong, who was fidgeting in his arms. “Come on, let’s go inside and out of this cold, aru.”

Hong Kong pressed his face into his panda plushie.

“You want to say ‘hi’ to daddy? He misses you, you know.”

Hong Kong shrugged. His face was still buried in his panda plushie. Yao took it as his way of saying, “whatever.”

When Yao entered the house, he called out for his companion. “Arthur!! Hong Kong’s home, aru!”

“I’m upstairs!” yelled a voice that clearly belonged to Arthur. “Come on up!”

Yao put Hong Kong down on the ground and told him to go upstairs first. “I’m just going to lock the door.”

After locking the door, Yao brought the bag containing Hong Kong’s things to the laundry room. He would sort them out later.

Then, Yao made his way upstairs. He entered the master bedroom, and found Arthur lazily lying on the bed with Hong Kong happily bouncing on his stomach. There was a red heart-shaped helium-filled balloon floating beside Arthur.

“What’s that?” Yao asked, pointing at the balloon.

Arthur lifted his head to look at Yao. He was smiling widely. “That’s your Christmas present for today. I think Hong Kong will enjoy it as well,” he said with a mischievous smile.

Yao sat on the edge of the bed and took the balloon string in his hand. There was a pin and a note attached to the string. The note said, “Pop me.”

Yao raised an eyebrow. “Pop the balloon, aru?”

“Yes,” said Arthur. “Oh wait, let me put Hong Kong on the ground first so that he can benefit from it too.” He lifted Hong Kong from his stomach and sat up, placing Hong Kong on the floor.

That made Yao even more perplexed. He stood up. “Hong Kong can’t observe from where he is on the bed?”

“Well, he can… but… but…” How was Arthur supposed to explain what was going to happen without revealing too much of it? “Just pop the balloon and you’ll find out,” Arthur finally said.

Yao frowned and glanced at Hong Kong. He was tugging on the string of the balloon. “Won’t the sound scare him?”

“Oh yeah…” Arthur smacked his head. “I didn’t think of that,” he admitted. “I’ll cover his ears for him.”

Yao took the tape around the pin off and held the pin in his hand. He looked unsurely at Arthur, whose hands were already covering a disgruntled Hong Kong’s ears.

“Hurry up – he’s squirming, and I don’t think I can hold him for too long.”

Yao pulled the balloon closer to him. He held the balloon and pushed the pin into it. The balloon exploded, and a whole assortment of confetti and glitter escaped the balloon. Along with the confetti and glitter, out fell a small note.

As soon as the confetti and glitter fell to the ground, Hong Kong gave a delighted squeal and toddled over to where the confetti and glitter was on the ground. He dropped himself on the floor and took a handful of confetti in his hand and threw it in the air. He giggled as the confetti fell to the ground once again.

Arthur watched in amusement at his son’s delight in seeing the colourful confetti and glitter.

Yao, on the other hand, was still stunned. He was staring at his son as he played with the contents of the balloon in disbelief.

“There’s a note,” said Arthur. “Read it,” he prompted.

Yao bent down and picked up the small piece of paper. What was on it was in Chinese, scrawled in Arthur’s handwriting. It looked like it belonged to a child who was just learning to write Chinese but Yao thought it was rather cute.

**_有缘千里来相会_ ** **_。_ ** **_  
_ ** **_我爱你。_ **

Yao was speechless. He wasn’t aware that Arthur knew such Chinese phrases. What more, it was apt for their situation, because Arthur’s usage of the allusion of distance perfectly captures how a Westerner and an Easterner, separated by thousands of miles and geography, could come to love one another, just as Arthur and Yao had.

Yao cast his gaze upon Arthur, who was blushing. Arthur shifted his feet nervously. “I know my handwriting is horrible…” he began.

Yao moved forward and kissed Arthur full on the lips. “It’s perfect,” he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation of Chinese text:  
> We have the destiny to meet across a thousand miles.  
> I love you.


	12. 25 December

**_Day 12 – 25 December (Christmas Day)_ **

It was finally Christmas day. Hong Kong had just opened his Christmas present from his parents – a toy train set complete with railway tracks. Arthur was helping him set it up to play with it for the first time in the living room.

Meanwhile, Yao had retrieved Arthur’s Christmas present from where he had hidden it in the storeroom. He hoped Arthur would be happy with it.

When Arthur had finished setting the train set up and Hong Kong was happily playing with it, Arthur stood up and dusted himself down.

Yao took this opportunity to give Arthur his gift. He shuffled towards Arthur and motioned for him to take a seat on the couch.

Arthur glanced curiously at Yao, but nevertheless, did as Yao wanted him to. Yao collapsed onto the sofa next to Arthur. He pulled a black bag from his side and placed it on Arthur’s lap.

“What’s this?”

Yao looked at Arthur lovingly. “Merry Christmas, aru.”

Arthur looked at the bag. It was obvious that this was Yao’s Christmas present for him. “Can I open it?”

“Of course.”

Arthur opened the bag and pulled out a brand new laptop. “Whoa,” he gasped. It was very sleek and light; it seemed to be the latest technology. Yao must have spent a lot of money on it.

“I’ve installed all the programs you generally use on the PC, aru,” Yao told Arthur. “So you can immediately use it.”

Arthur looked at Yao in amazement. “How did you know I wanted a new laptop?”

Yao sniggered. “I hear you cursing your computer whenever you work. It’s about time anyway. How old is your old laptop, aru?”

“Four years old,” replied Arthur.

“That’s pretty old for a computer, in today’s standards.”

“Well, thanks,” said Arthur, leaning forward to kiss Yao on the cheek. “Now it’s my turn to give you your last Christmas present of the year.” He stood up and made his way to the kitchen.

When Arthur came out of the kitchen, he was cradling in his arms a bouquet of roses. He took his seat next to Yao and gently transferred the bouquet into Yao’s hand. “I will stop loving you when the last rose dies,” he said to Yao.

 _When the last rose dies?_ Yao was confused. They would all die eventually, so why…? Then it was clear – in the centre of the bouquet was a fake rose. So, all in all, Arthur had given Yao twelve roses, eleven real ones and one fake one. The fake one wouldn’t die, so Arthur was saying that he would love Yao forever.

Yao leaned his head onto Arthur’s shoulder. “Thank you for a memorable Christmas,” he said quietly. “Thank you for planning the twelve gifts on the twelve days, aru.”

Arthur’s face reddened considerably. “It… it was nothing… I just wanted…”

Yao didn’t let him finish. He placed the roses on the couch beside him and pounced onto Arthur, kissing him passionately.

It was a great Christmas.


End file.
